Prompts:
(historical) May be based on a real story or legend, but is usually based in a real historical time period and place
Additional prompts:
8. (song) The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel
11. (emotion) Scared
12: (word) Talisman
Chaser 2 of Wigtown Wanderers.
Word count: 2155
Warnings: Death, psychological manipulation.
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
"K-kill him? Harry, are you sure? Shouldn't I b-bring him in for questioning first? It doesn't seem right to just kill a person without—without gathering evidence, first! Harry I-" she stopped the rapid flow of words coming from her mouth, looking at her childhood friend.
Pharaoh Aharon had, in fact, been holding his hand up since the moment Hermione first spoke. She just didn't notice, as she was too busy pacing the floor of the throne room and waving her hands frantically. If anyone else tried that, they would be "taken away" by the guard. Put to death or, more likely, made into a slave. However, Hermione Granger was one of the Pharaoh's closest, most trusted advisors. The Pharaoh could safely say she was a friend. They had grown up together, along with Roniad.
"Yes, my king," she bowed her head.
As she exited the palace, Roniad grabbed her elbow.
"Hermione, take this talisman. You'll need it when you encounter that devil," he spat.
"A talisman? Ron, do you really believe in that nonsense?"
"My mum gave it to me when I was little. I'm pretty sure it works since I've had relatively good luck all my life," he grinned.
"My parents had one when they died," she replied bitterly. "Anyway, what is this symbol? It looks like a snake."
The talisman was a pendant of some sort. Hermione had never seen anything like it. It was a huge contrast to the Nobles who were only seen wearing elaborate jewellery made of gold and usually gems of beautifully polished lapis lazuli. This pendant, however, was made of silver and seemed to have an opening. Silver was so rare. The glittering stones seemed to be emeralds—rather common gems—but they sparkled beautifully, if not a bit menacingly. It was easy to visualise it as a minuscule snake, inlaid with glittering, green stones.
"Thank you, Ron." She smiled at him.
Hermione then turned around and left, not seeing the blush creeping across his face.
As Hermione entered the little shop, she shivered from the unnerving feel of the place. She immediately saw the owner hunched over the counter, scribbling in some kind of strange-looking scroll. The man was tall with a lean build, dark hair and pale skin. He was dressed in black linen clothes. While pale skin should have been strange, the man probably almost never exited his dark little shop.
He looked up, and her talisman rattled momentarily. She clutched at it.
He looked at the serpentine S of the talisman, dark, handsome eyes widening in surprise and—was that recognition?
Hermione felt her heart skip a beat when his eyes landed on her.
"My, my… Who do we have here," he said, a charming smile spreading on his face.
Hermione gathered her composure. She drew herself up to her full height, straightened her posture. "Are you Tom Riddle?" she asked, her voice demanding authority.
"Yes, I am," he said, sounding amused.
"You've killed many people then. By orders of Ma'at, you should be sentenced to death."
Dark eyes stared at her. She felt tears stinging her eyes from the intensity of his gaze, and just when she was about to look away, he said, "Should be?"
"Yes. Pharaoh Aharon, out of the goodness of his heart, wishes for an investigation, which I shall conduct. Don't even think about leaving Egypt. I will find you," she replied, glaring at him.
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Are you going to cooperate then?"
"Yes," he leaned forward on his elbows, eyes glittering. "I will cooperate."
If she was alone, she would have sighed in relief. He terrified her. There was something dark but absolutely intoxicating about him. She couldn't wait to leave.
"But only," he drawled, and she flinched, "if you do something for me."
"Excuse me? What gives you the right to ask for anything?!" she exclaimed angrily. "You killed my parents!"
Brief recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Hermione…" he hissed softly, as if speaking to himself. Hermione ignored the question of how he knew her name, she was a fairly common sight at the Pharaoh's side, after all. "Your parents were honorable people. If they hadn't stood in my way, I would have spared them," Tom continued, after a moment of staring at her.
"How—how dare you?" she seethed with rage.
Suddenly, a snake slithered in. Once again Hermione felt her talisman shiver, and her fingers automatically went to grab it.
She hated snakes. Sure, they were fine in stories and pictures, but not in real life.
"Don't be frightened. This is Nagini. She comes to visit me sometimes," he said, seeing the look on her face. "She's perfectly friendly."
The pattern on the snake's back was familiar to Hermione. She recalled someone years ago, wearing a necklace that looked like that…
"N-Nagini?" Hermione said, incredulous. "She was a member of the court a few years ago, then disappeared. This-this can't be."
"Oh but it is," replied Tom, sounding delighted. "She suffered from a blood malediction that turned her into a…beast, for want of a better word."
Hermione stared at the snake, unwilling to move or make a sound. Nagini was slowly circling around her.
"So, will you agree to my terms?" Tom asked.
She paused, holding her breath.
"Within reason," Hermione finally whispered.
"Well then, I will tell you my request when it's time," he replied, grinning.
Nagini slithered away.
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
Hermione visited Tom's shop every night, unwilling at first, but eventually eager to hear one of his stories.
"Do you know the tale of the three brothers?" Tom asked. Hermione nodded in response.
"The second brother, the...arrogant one, asked for the power to recall others from Death," he continued. "Do you remember what the object was?"
"It was a pebble, wasn't it?" asked Hermione.
"A stone, yes. Anyway, it was fused together with a family heirloom. My family's heirloom, in fact," he paused to take off the ring on his left hand's middle finger.
The ring was gold and set with a large black stone. The stone had a triangle, circle and a straight line engraved into it.
"Why don't you…take a look at it?" he asked.
Hermione took the strange ring from him, and put it on. She dropped to her knees and hurriedly took off the cursed ring. She then threw it somewhere over her shoulder, clutching at her finger. Tears fell freely, fleetingly reminding Tom of a waterfall.
He came from behind the corner, clutching something small and golden. He then crouched down next to Hermione, handing her a…cup.
"Repeat after me. 'Cure for the dark curse'," he said.
Through tears, she looked at him like he was insane.
"You'll die if you don't, witch! Now repeat! 'Cure for the dark curse'," he repeated, desperately.
She did, and suddenly some kind of opalescent, sweet-smelling liquid appeared in the cup.
"Drink it! Hermione, please drink it! You don't have much time!" his grip on her shoulder was painful.
Hermione took one last look at his dark eyes before guzzling down the liquid. She felt light-headed and slumped forward. Tom caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground. She noticed the smell of sandalwood, then felt herself being carried in strong arms before completely fading into unconsciousness.
After what felt like an eternity later, Hermione woke up to the intoxicating scent of sandalwood.
Suddenly, terror gripped her thoughts. Where was she? Hermione sat up, looking around.
She was in a bed. Upon closer inspection, the bedcover was made of cotton and the bed frame was made of dark wood.
Other than a bed, the only other piece of furniture was a wooden cabinet of the same color. The room was so plain compared to hers.
Despite wishing to just go back to sleep, she pushed back the covers and got up, finding a door that led to the shop. She spotted Tom immediately.
"What—what was that? What happened?" she asked.
"You fainted," he replied easily.
"Well, I know that, but why?"
"I think this—this ring is enchanted to hurt anyone who isn't family," he answered. Seeing the look on Hermione's face, he continued, "I swear, I didn't know you would get hurt. I would never want you to get hurt."
Hermione's features calmed, seeming mollified.
"Alright then, how did you cure me?" she asked.
Tom took out the golden cup she drank from earlier.
"This is Helga Hufflepuff's cup. The cup was said to possess many magical powers, and indeed it does. You just need to tell it what drink you'd like."
Hermione looked at the small gold cup with two handles and a badger engraved on it. She then glanced at Tom, before settling her gaze on the floor.
"Thank you, Tom," she whispered.
He leaned in, and her heart skipped a beat.
"You're welcome," he whispered back, smirking.
"This is a tiara said to enhance the wisdom of its wearer. It was lost for centuries before I… Found it," he said. "The one who forged it was a woman by the name of Rowena Ravenclaw."
It was silver, and had a blue sapphire in the middle shaped like an oval. Etched upon its surface was: " ' e."
"That is Ravenclaw's famous quote, in a foreign language."
Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. "What does it say?"
He translated for her.
"How do you know this? What is the name of the land this language comes from?"
"My dear Hermione, I must keep my secrets," he winked. "On with the story."
"Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter, greatly envied the attention her mother received. She stole her mother's diadem, in hope of using its power to make herself wiser, and fled Hogwarts. Her mother kept this a secret for many, many years, until she fell fatally ill and in spite of Helena's betrayal, wanted to see her daughter one last time.
"Rowena sent the Bloody Baron, a man who once loved Helena, to find her. When he caught up with her, she hid the diadem. Upon her refusal to return with him, the Baron stabbed her; horrified by what he had just done, the Baron then stabbed himself as well. The diadem was later found to be lost, granting it the title of "the lost diadem", and was sought after ever since."
He paused for a few seconds before saying, "This artifact was rather…difficult to get."
"How did you find it?" asked Hermione.
"I, to put it plainly, charmed the answer out of her daughter."
"Isn't she dead?"
"Yes, but her ghost is alive," he grinned.
Hermione stared into his eyes and felt her mind go fuzzy. "Thank you for the story," she said dazedly, only a few moments later.
She left the shop, Tom staring after her.
"Hermione, we're going to kill Tom now," said Ron, shaking her awake.
"Wh—what? Kill him?!"
"Yes! Let's go now."
As soon as he left her quarters, she ran. She ran to Tom's shop, knocking frantically on the door.
He opened the door, fully dressed.
"Tom! They're going to kill you, what did you do!" she exclaimed.
"Hermione, you can be my queen. All we have to do is kill the Pharaoh," he replied.
"Wh—what? No! Are you insane?"
"Take my hand, Hermione," he reached out for her.
"STOP! PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM," the guards came bursting in.
Hermione turned around.
"Don't kill him! Please WAIT!" They ignored her cries, and shot the Avada Kedavra at him.
It was over. He was dead. Hermione sank to her knees.
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
She crawled towards him, checking his pulse, maybe he was still alive.
No. He was dead.
Hermione started sobbing.
Her Talisman vibrated violently, and she tried to pull it away from herself. It didn't stop.
Nagini came slithering around the corner, and hissed. Hermione felt the talisman click open.
She screamed.
There were eyes, his eyes, staring back at her from within the locket.
There were footsteps behind her, so she shut the locket closed and hid it under her shirt.
"Hermione, are you alright?" asked Harry.
Her head was spinning, she was breathing heavily. Dark spots filled her vision.
"Y-you killed him. Why?" she managed, then slumped forward and fainted.
Nobody was there to catch her.